Photo Flash: The National Ballet Celebrates Its Diamond Anniversary

This past Wednesday, The National Ballet of Canada celebrated their 60th Anniversary in style at The Four Seasons Centre for the Arts. One of their fanciest galas in recent memory, the company embraced the 'Diamond' theme in a joint celebration that also honoured the Queen's Jubilee. Dancers, celebrities, members of the media and fans and friends of the ballet gathered together for a gorgeous celebration that included performances which highlighted the extraordinary work of The National Ballet, and then danced the night away at a gala dinner on the stage of The Four Seasons Centre.

The evening kicked off with a red carpet extravaganza which included models posed outside in the record setting heat, posing lIke Ballerinas inside a music box in gorgeous custom-designed tutus. Inside, guests were treated to an array of food and drink including a custom cocktail 'Skyy with Diamonds' by Skyy Vodka and hors d'oeuvres from North 44°. The hour long performance featured short works performed by the National Ballet, including the pas de deux from Herman Scherman. After the performance gala guests were invited onto the stage (which featured 24 crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling to mark the occasion) and had a dinner prepared by celebrity chef Mark McEwan.

The 60th Anniversary Celebration also highlighted The Tutu Project, an interactive and international art and community-outreach project that includes sixty tutus created by artists from Dance Victoria, The Port Theatre, Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Alberta Ballet, Giles Deacon for The English National Ballet and more.

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Kelly Cameron's love affair with the theatre began when she was just five years old, on an outing to see the Original Canadian Cast of Les Miserables at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. She instantly fell in love, and is honoured to be representing the Toronto contingent of BroadwayWorld as Senior Editor overseeing the GTA region.

Her writing career started almost by accident, though it has always been in her blood as her Mom was an English teacher who firmly believed in the importance of being able to turn a phrase. She also loved sharing her love of theatre with her students (and her children), and was a staunch supporter of the arts in Toronto.

When not at the theatre, you can usually find Kelly with a Starbucks in one hand and her BlackBerry in the other, tweeting, reading or doing something quirky and clumsy for the sake of getting that next big story.

She's incredibly grateful to the amazing Toronto theatre community who have embraced her with open arms, giving her the greatest gift a little redheaded theatre geek could ever ask for - getting to be a part of this vibrant arts and culture scene. She may have never had the skills to be on the stage, but is thankful every day she gets to write about the inspiring people who do.